Shirt with reduced ride

ABSTRACT

The invention is directed to a shirt having reduced ride despite the significant activity of the wearer that includes a sleeve having a gusset and the back of the shirt is a yokeless back, i.e., free of a horizontal seam crossing the back slightly below the neck line, and the fabric of the shirt is a bi-stretch woven fabric.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention is directed to a shirt having a sleeve gusset and bi-stretch woven fabric that reduces the ride of the shirt so as to provide greater freedom of movement to the wearer compared to conventional shirts.

Background Art

Shirts that stay tucked despite the movement of the garment wearer have long been sought. While various constructions and fabric have been proposed, the solutions to date have not been entirely adequate.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,973,419 discloses an underarm insert that extends down the underarm of the sleeve for a relatively short distance and down the side of the torso of a pajama coat or similar garment. The insert is said to reduce the stress the garment is exposed to during use and improve the comfort of the wearer. Other exemplary gusset designs have been proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,104,288, 2,179,675, 2,320,605, 2386,768, 2,860,345, 3,719,956 and 5,608,913.

A more recent attempt to reduce the ride of a shirt is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2016/0183600 which describes a shirt having a deformable material with a length and closure means that allows the shirt to hug the buttocks of the wearer in an attempt to anchor the shirt.

There continues to be a need, however, that allows the wearer of a shirt to enjoy significant freedom of movement without his or her shirt riding up from a tucked position and thus becoming bunched and unsightly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to a shirt comprising: (a) a body portion with a front side and backside sewn together to form an armhole on each side of the shirt, the body portion having a predetermined size; (b) a pair of sleeves joined to the armholes, the sleeves having a predetermined size and each sleeve having an arm portion joined together at an underside seam extending from the wrist end of the sleeve longitudinally to a point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve and a gusset; (c) each gusset having a shape defined by (i) a first side attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point of the first side intersecting a seam where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second and third side of the gusset of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side of the gusset in a direction toward the wrist opening of the sleeve and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve, and (d) the body portion and sleeves are a bi-stretch woven fabric. Generally the dimensions of each gusset will be such that the ratio of the length of the second or third side of the gusset to the longitudinal length of the sleeve is in a range of about 1:1.75 to about 1:3, preferably about 1:1.85 to about 1:2.8 and more preferably about 1:2 to about 1:2.6 and the ratio of the length of the first side of the gusset to the circumference of the armhole is about 1:3 to about 1:5, preferably about 1:3.2 to about 1:4.7, and more preferably about 1:3.4 to about 1:4.5.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front side view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention showing the shape and placement of the gusset.

FIG. 3 is a backside view illustrating that the shirt of the invention is yokeless.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a view of an exemplary gusset formed from a sleeve panel and triangular gusset pieced together prior to attachment to the armhole and arm portion of the sleeve.

FIG. 6 is a view of the of an exemplary arm portion of the sleeve used in the invention.

FIG. 7 depicts the arm hole to which the gusset and arm portion of the sleeve will be attached.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The shirt of the present invention is a yokeless body portion having ergonomic sleeves made of a two-piece sleeve construction that comprises an arm portion and a gusset. Preferably the shirt of the invention is made with a bi-stretch woven fabric that provides acceptable stretch in both the warp and weft direction.

The shirt is of a predetermined size appropriate for the dimensions of the wearer. The body portion has a front side and backside that are sewn together to form an armhole on each side. As with any shirt there is also an opening for the wearer's neck. The opening maybe collarless or collared as desired. One aspect of the invention is that the backside of the body portion of the shirt is yokeless. By yokeless, it is meant that the backside body portion is a single piece of fabric that does not have a horizontal seam extending across the backside below the neckline from one arm hole to the other.

The front side of the body portion maybe a single piece of fabric or two pieces of fabric that are joined by the wearer with buttons or other conventional means of closing a shirt. The front side may also optionally include design features such as one or more pockets or design embroidering.

The front side and backside of the body portion are sewn together or joined by any other conventional means for joining fabric. The joinder of all fabric pieces in the shirt is preferably by conventional sewing methods, but any other joinder method may be used.

The shirt of this invention includes a pair of sleeves, each sleeve joined to an armhole of the body portion of the shirt. The sleeves are of a two piece construction including an arm portion and a gusset. The arm portion will be of a length that extends on its upper arm side from the armhole to proximate the wearer's wrist. The arm portion is joined together by conventional means, e.g., sewn, to form an underside seam extending from approximately the wearer's wrist (i.e., the hole in the sleeve for the wearer's hand) in a longitudinal direction to a point proximate to the elbow position of the wearer. The end point of the seam proximate to the elbow position is conventionally joined to the end of the gusset.

Each gusset has a shape defined by (i) a first side attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point of the first side intersecting a seam where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second and third side of the gusset of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side of the gusset directionally toward the wrist opening of the sleeve and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve. It is noted, that the arm portion and gusset will form a sleeve of a predetermined size appropriate for the dimensions of the wearer. Generally the dimensions of each gusset will be such that the ratio of the length of the second or third side of the gusset to the longitudinal length of the sleeve is in a range of about 1:1.75 to about 1:3, preferably about 1:1.85 to about 1:2.8 and more preferably about 1:2 to about 1:2.6 and the ratio of the length of the first side of the gusset to the circumference of the armhole is about 1:3 to about 1:5, preferably about 1:3.2 to about 1:4.7, and more preferably about 1:3.4 to about 1:4.5.

The gusset may be one piece two pieces or more. Preferably the gusset is one piece or two pieces. For example a two piece gusset may be formed by piecing together a sleeve armpit panel and gusset piece to form the gusset attached to the arm portion of the sleeve and the armhole. Another manner of forming a gusset is to join two pieces using a seam longitudinal to the sleeve running down the center line of the gusset.

The fabric used in the preferred embodiment of this invention is a bi-stretch woven fabric having the ability to stretch in both the warp and weft direction. The stretch properties of the shirt fabric allows the shirt to move with the wearer. Bi-stretch woven fabric is well known and readily available. Generally compared to non-stretch woven fabric, bi-stretch fabric will provide at least 20% more stretch in the warp and weft directions, preferable at least 25% more stretch in the warp and weft directions. In one embodiment the bi-stretch fabric provides about 32% more stretch in the warp direction and about 58% more stretch in the weft direction compared to non-stretch fabric. Preferably the maximum strain impact of the fabric material is about 200 gf/cm2 when the wearer raises the arms while wearing the shirt of the invention.

Reference to the figures provides a more detailed illustration of the inventive shirt have reduced ride. FIG. 1 illustrates a front side view, the shirt including a body portion 1 having a front side 2. In the figure, the front side includes a right side 2A and a left side 2B. Also shown in the illustration are sleeves 3, which include right side sleeve 3A and left side sleeve 3B that are each attached to an armhole at armhole seams 4. The sleeves 3 each include arm portions 5, and gussets 6. Also shown in FIG. 1 are an optional collar 7, and optional buttons 8 for attaching the right side of the front side 2A and left side of the front side 2B to one another so as to close the body portion around the wearer. Also shown are optional cuffs 9 which may be of conventional design.

FIG. 2 is a side view illustration of an embodiment of the invention. Here a view of both the front side 2 and rear side 10 of the body portion 1 are illustrated and the seam 11 therebetween (front side 2 and rear side 10) is made by conventional means, e.g., sewn. Optional collar 7 and cuff 9 are also shown.

FIG. 3 is a back side view of an embodiment of the invention. The back side 10 of body portion 1 is shown attached to sleeves 3 at armhole seams 4. The sleeves 3 are comprised of arm portion 5 and gusset 6. Also shown are optional collar 7 and sleeve cuff 9.

FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. This figure shows gusset 6 combined with arm portion 5 to provide sleeve 3. The gusset 6 is a three sided shaped piece of material (substantially triangular), the gusset 6 being defined by (i) a first side 12 (having curvature to match the arm hole) attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point 13 of the first side intersecting the seam 11 where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second side 14 and third side 15 of the gusset 6 of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side 12 of the gusset 6 directionally toward the wrist opening of the sleeve 16 and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve 17.

FIG. 5 illustrates a gusset 6 useful in the present invention which is formed from a triangular gusset piece 18 and sleeve panel armpit 19. The dimensions are illustrative of a gusset that may be employed for a size 15 1/2 shirt with the arm portion 5 shown in FIG. 6 and a body portion having a front side 2 with an armhole 20. It will be apparent that the dimensions can be appropriately changed depending on the sizing needs of the wearer.

A dynamic motion study was carried out to compare an embodiment of the invention with other embodiments. The study measured the movement of the shirt at the side seam 11 and center back line of the backside 10 shirt after the wearer raises and lowers their arms and after going through a standing sitting cycle. The results of the study are set forth in the Tables below.

TABLE 1 DYNAMIC MOTION STUDY—ARM LIFT START END DISTANCE RATIO SHIRT—CONVENTIONAL NON-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 124 mm  71 mm 15.04% CENTER BACK 286 mm 210 mm  76 mm  9.96% SHIRT—CONVENTIONAL BI-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 135 mm  60 mm 12.71% CENTER BACK 287 mm 258 mm  29 mm  3.80% SHIRT—YOKELESS W/GUSSET—NON-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 197 mm 128 mm  69 mm 14.59% CENTER BACK 284 mm 209 mm  75 mm  9.79% SHIRT—YOKELESS W/GUSSET BI-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 152 mm  43 mm  9.51% CENTER BACK 289 mm 266 mm  23 mm  3.39% TABLE 2 DYNAMIC MOTION STUDY—STAND-SIT START END DISTANCE RATIO SHIRT—CONVENTIONAL NON-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 188 mm  7 mm  1.48% CENTER BACK 286 mm 185 mm 101 mm 13.24% SHIRT—CONVENTIONAL BI-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 189 mm  6 mm  1.27% CENTER BACK 287 mm 247 mm  40 mm  5.24% SHIRT—YOKELESS W/GUSSET—NON-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 197 mm 191 mm  6 mm  1.27% CENTER BACK 284 mm 199 mm  85 mm 11.10% SHIRT—YOKELESS W/GUSSET BI-STRETCH SIDE SEAM 195 mm 190 mm  5 mm  1.06% CENTER BACK 289 mm 252 mm  37 mm  4.83%

It is apparent that the shirt of the invention has significantly improved ability to stay tucked after fairly vigorous movement by the wearer. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A shirt comprising: (a) a body portion with a front side and backside sewn together to form an armhole on each side of the shirt, the body portion having a predetermined size; (b) a pair of sleeves joined to the arm holes, the sleeves having a predetermined size and each sleeve having an arm portion joined together at an underside seam extending from the wrist end of the sleeve in a longitudinal direction to a point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve and a gusset; (c) each gusset having a shape defined by (i) a first side attached along the underarm portion of the armhole with the approximate center point of the first side intersecting a seam where the front side and backside are sewn together; and (ii) a second and third side of the gusset of substantially equivalent length extending from opposing sides of the first side of the gusset directionally toward the wrist opening of the sleeve and joining together on the underside of the sleeve at the point proximate to the elbow position within the sleeve. (d) the body portion and sleeves being a bi-stretch woven fabric.
 2. The shirt of claim 1, wherein the dimensions of each gusset are such that the ratio of the length of the second or third side of the gusset to the longitudinal length of the sleeve is in a range of about 1:1.75 to about 1:3 and the ratio of the length of the first side of the gusset to the circumference of the armhole is about 1:3 to about 1:5. 